By Sruthi Shankar and Bansari Mayur Kamdar
(Reuters) – European stocks returned early gains on Tuesday and extended the sell-off for a sixth straight session on concerns about an aggressive U.S. rate hike and a potential recession.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 1.26% at 407.32 points after falling 2.4% on Monday to a more than three-month low.
Healthcare and industrial stocks led sectoral losses in Europe, while banks rose 1.1%.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index on Monday confirmed the so-called “bear market” after a 20% drop from its closing record, on growing fears that the aggressive hikes expected by the Federal Reserve could push the economy into recession.
The focus is on the Fed’s monetary policy decision to be announced on Wednesday, with many expecting a 0.75 percentage point increase after strong inflation data last week.
Caught in a broader sell-off, the STOXX 600 has slumped nearly 17% since hitting an all-time high in January amid record eurozone inflation, tightening financial conditions and a slowdown in China’s economy.
In LONDON, the Financial Times index fell 0.25% to 7,187.46 points.
In FRANKFURT, the DAX index fell 0.91% to 13,304.39 points.
In PARIS, the CAC-40 index lost 1.20% to 5,949.84 points.
In MILAN, the Ftse/Mib index had a devaluation of 0.32%, to 21,846.89 points.
In MADRID, the Ibex-35 index registered a drop of 1.43%, at 8,066.40 points.
In LISBON, the PSI20 index depreciated by 0.48%, to 5,986.96 points.
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